Multimode commissioning switch powered by ground leakage current

ABSTRACT

A multimode switch includes a wireless transceiver, that transmits/receives messages over a wireless network; a line voltage switch, coupled to a line voltage and associated devices; a switch controller, responsive to first messages received over the wireless network, that directs the line voltage switch to provide line voltage to, and subsequently remove line voltage from, the associated devices, and that receives identifying information and functional group designation for the associated devices in second messages over the wireless network, and that controls the associated devices according to the identifying information and functional group designation via transmission of third messages over the wireless network; and a ground leakage power supply, coupled to an AC hot line and to an earth ground, that generates a regulated voltage to power the wireless transceiver and the switch controller without requiring connection to an AC neutral line, while limiting ground leakage current to the earth ground to a prescribed leakage value.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the following U.S. ProvisionalApplications, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

FILING Ser. No. DATE TITLE 62851733 May 23, 2019 GROUND LEAKAGE CURRENTPOWER SUPPLY 62851741 May 23, 2019 MULTIMODE COMMISSIONING SWITCHPOWERED BY GROUND LEAKAGE CURRENT

This application is related to the following co-pending U.S. patentapplications, each of which has a common assignee and common inventors,the entireties of which are herein incorporated by reference.

Ser. FILING No. DATE TITLE 16/881,950 May 22, 2020 GROUND LEAKAGECURRENT POWER SUPPLY

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to the field of building automation,and more particularly to a multimode commissioning switch that ispowered exclusively by chassis ground leakage current.

Description of the Related Art

Up until more recent years, most building control systems (e.g.,lighting, HVAC, etc.) were hard-wired. That is, signals for power,ground, control, and data were transmitted between controllers andsensors over physical wires. With the advent of low power wirelesscommunications technologies (e.g., IEEE 802.15, Zigbee, Bluetooth,etc.), many buildings are being retrofitted with wireless fixtures andcontrols, examples of which include, but are not limited to, wirelessLED lights, wireless switches, wireless occupancy sensors, wirelessdaylight harvesters, wireless thermostats and HVAC controls, and thelike. Many of these products, specifically LED lighting and associatedcontrols and sensors, allow building owners to significantly reduceenergy consumption by virtue of enabling technology (e.g., LED lightingpower requirements versus conventional fluorescent lighting powerrequirements) and remote/automated control over the internet.Accordingly, more and more owners are retrofitting their existingbuildings with these wireless fixtures and controls.

As one skilled in the art will appreciate, retrofitting a small- tomedium-size building is a significant endeavor involving both productand labor costs for, on average, most buildings have approximately threelight fixtures plus one light switch per 100 square feet, which is thesize of an average office. Consequently, the owner of a 50,000 squarefoot building would need to purchase and install approximately 1500 LEDlight fixtures along with 500 wireless switches. This is a significantinvestment and, thus, there is a desire in the art to reduce the cost ofthese wireless products and the labor required for their installation.

This disclosure addresses a well-known problem in the art, which hasarisen as a result of developers incorporating “smart” controllers thatare disposed in a conventional wall- or surface-mounted switch. Thesecontrollers may utilize wireless communications to sense movement of aphysical switch and turn LED lights on and off in accordance with switchmovement, or they may utilize power provided at the switch to controlother devices over a wired connection. As one skilled in the art willalso appreciate, more often than not, wiring for conventional switchesconsists of a hot wire from an AC power source, a switched leg wire thatprovides switched power to corresponding fixtures, and an earth (or“chassis”) ground. That is, no neutral wire from the AC source is wiredto the switch. In this case, the neutral lead from the AC power sourceis daisy-chained among the corresponding fixtures that are controlled bythe switch. Thus, any controller that may be disposed within a retrofitswitch requires a power source that is referenced to chassis ground and,as one skilled in the art will appreciate, chassis (or “earth”) groundconnections have “ground leakage” constraints imposed by type of circuit(e.g., ground fault interrupt) and regulatory agencies (e.g.,Underwriters Laboratories). These constraints limit ground leakagecurrent typically to less than 5 milliamperes—a value that does notsupport ground referenced power sources for any practicable smartcontroller that is disposed within the switch. This has been, andcontinues to be, as significant problem.

Numerous approaches have been fielded to overcome the above-notedproblem, the most obvious of which is to use a battery within the switchfor the power source. However, batteries fail—often at inopportunetimes—and must be replaced. Other approaches utilize transformers andtriacs to harvest power from the AC hot lead for use by a controller,but these approaches generally exceed the amount of ground leakage thatis allowed.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,365, Merwin et al. disclose an electronic powersupply that receives power from an AC hot lead and supplies power to aload that is reference to earth ground. The power supply stores energyin a “filter” capacitor that is coupled between the AC hot lead (througha rectifying diode) and earth ground. In addition, the impedance of thefilter capacitor is chosen to ensure that the ground leakage currentlimit is not exceeded, and the present inventors have noted thatutilizing the same component to store power and to limit ground currentleakage is disadvantageous because the impedance of the component alsolimits the amount of energy that can be stored for use as a powersupply.

In U.S. Pat. No. 8,928,188, Shilling discloses a power supply circuitfor a remote load and a local (in-switch) controller that includes aline (i.e., hot) connection receiving electrical power from an ACsource, a load connection that is hard-wired to the remote load, and aswitch that is located between the line and load connections. A lowvoltage power supply supplies power from the AC source to a controllerthat is employed to selectively open and close the switch. The lowvoltage power supply has an energy storage portion. The energy storageportion is coupled between the AC hot connection and a node. A currentlimiter is coupled in series between the node and earth ground. An earthground bypass portion is coupled between the node and the loadconnection. The other side of the remote load is coupled to a neutrallead from the AC source. The present inventors have also noted thatwhile the disclosed power supply circuit includes a current limiter inseries with the energy storage portion, and thus does not limit theamount of energy that may be stored, constant connection is requiredbetween the ground bypass portion and the remote load (and thus to ACneutral) to enable sufficient power to power the local controller,because the energy storage portion is unable to power the localcontroller on its own.

Accordingly, what is needed is a ground leakage power supply circuitthat is sized such that a remote or local load that is coupled to thepower supply circuit is sufficiently powered while simultaneouslylimiting ground leakage current below a prescribed value.

What is also needed is a power supply circuit disposed in a wall- orsurface-mounted switch that does not require an AC neutral line forpower, where the power supply circuit provides sufficient power for aprescribed period of time to a remote or local load, whilesimultaneously limiting ground leakage current below a prescribedthreshold value.

What is furthermore needed is a multimode switch that includes groundleakage power supply and a local switch controller therein powered bythe ground leakage power supply, where the local switch controllerenables switching of AC line voltage to a remote load.

What is moreover needed is a multimode switch that includes groundleakage power supply and a wireless transceiver therein powered by theground leakage power supply, where the wireless transceiver is employedto send and receive wireless messages to one or more correspondingwireless devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, among other applications, is directed to solvingthe above-noted problems and addresses other problems, disadvantages,and limitations of the prior art. The present invention provides asuperior technique for providing multimode switch that is powered usingonly an AC hot wire and an earth (or “chassis”) ground wire, withoutrequiring a neutral connection. In one embodiment, a multimode switch isprovided that includes a wireless transceiver, configured to transmitand receive messages over a wireless network; a line voltage switch,coupled to a line voltage and to one or more associated devices; aswitch controller, responsive to first messages received over thewireless network, configured to direct the line voltage switch toprovide the line voltage to, and subsequently remove line voltage from,the one or more associated devices, and configured to receive firstidentifying information and functional group designation for the one ormore associated devices in second messages over the wireless network,and configured to thereafter control the one or more associated devicesaccording to the identifying information and functional groupdesignation via transmission of third messages over the wirelessnetwork; and a ground leakage power supply, coupled to an AC hot lineand to an earth ground, configured to generate a regulated voltage topower the wireless transceiver and the switch controller withoutrequiring connection to an AC neutral line, while limiting groundleakage current to the earth ground to a prescribed leakage value.

One aspect of the present invention comprehends a multimode switch thathas an actuator, configured to indicate a state responsive to a changein actuation; a wireless transceiver, configured to transmit and receivemessages over a wireless network; a line voltage switch, coupled to aline voltage and to one or more associated devices; a switch controller,responsive to first messages received over the wireless network,configured to direct the line voltage switch to provide the line voltageto, and subsequently remove line voltage from, the one or moreassociated devices, and configured to receive first identifyinginformation and functional group designation for the one or moreassociated devices in second messages over the wireless network, andconfigured to thereafter control the one or more associated devicesaccording to the identifying information and functional groupdesignation via transmission of third messages over the wirelessnetwork; and a ground leakage power supply, coupled to an AC hot lineand to an earth ground, configured to generate a regulated voltage topower the wireless transceiver and the switch controller withoutrequiring connection to an AC neutral line, while limiting groundleakage current to the earth ground to a prescribed leakage value.

Another aspect of the present invention envisages a multimode switchmethod, including: via a wireless transceiver, transmitting andreceiving messages over a wireless network; coupling a line voltageswitch to a line voltage and to one or more associated devices; via aswitch controller, responsive to first messages received over thewireless network, directing the line voltage switch to provide the linevoltage to, and subsequently remove line voltage from, the one or moreassociated devices; receiving first identifying information andfunctional group designation for the one or more associated devices insecond messages over the wireless network; and thereafter controllingthe one or more associated devices according to the identifyinginformation and functional group designation via transmission of thirdmessages over the wireless network; and coupling a ground leakage powersupply to an AC hot line and to an earth ground, and generating aregulated voltage to power the wireless transceiver and the switchcontroller without requiring connection to an AC neutral line, whilelimiting ground leakage current to the earth ground to a prescribedleakage value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a groundleakage current power supply installation according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting another embodiment of a groundleakage current power supply installation according to the presentinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram featuring a one embodiment of multimode switchaccording to the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary and illustrative embodiments of the invention are describedbelow. It should be understood at the outset that although exemplaryembodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, theprinciples of the present disclosure may be implemented using any numberof techniques, whether currently known or not. In the interest ofclarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described inthis specification, for those skilled in the art will appreciate that inthe development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementationspecific decisions are made to achieve specific goals, such ascompliance with system-related and business-related constraints, whichvary from one implementation to another. Furthermore, it will beappreciated that such a development effort might be complex andtime-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking forthose of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of thisdisclosure. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will beapparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the presentinvention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodimentsshown and described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features herein disclosed.

The present invention will now be described with reference to theattached figures. Various structures, systems, and devices areschematically depicted in the drawings for purposes of explanation onlyand so as to not obscure the present invention with details that arewell known to those skilled in the art. Nevertheless, the attacheddrawings are included to describe and explain illustrative examples ofthe present invention. Unless otherwise specifically noted, articlesdepicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpretedto have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words andphrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of aterm or phrase (i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinaryand customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art) isintended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein.To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a specialmeaning (i.e., a meaning other than that understood by skilled artisans)such a special definition will be expressly set forth in thespecification in a definitional manner that directly and unequivocallyprovides the special definition for the term or phrase. As used in thisdisclosure, “each” refers to each member of a set, each member of asubset, each member of a group, each member of a portion, each member ofa part, etc.

Applicants note that unless the words “means for” or “step for” areexplicitly used in a particular claim, it is not intended that any ofthe appended claims or claim elements are recited in such a manner as toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f).

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of aground leakage current power supply installation 100 according to thepresent invention. The installation 100 includes an AC power source thatincludes a hot line and a neutral line. The hot line is coupled to a hotnode 102 within a ground leakage current power supply 101 according tothe present invention. The ground leakage current power supply 101 alsohas a chassis ground node 104 that is coupled to earth ground, an outputvoltage node 107 supplying an output voltage VOUT to a load 110, and areturn node 108 that provides a ground return RTN to the load 110. Inone embodiment, the nodes 102, 104, 107-108 may comprise wiringterminals within a wall- or surface-mounted switch.

The power supply 101 may also include a rectifier circuit 103 that iscoupled between the hot node 102 and the chassis ground node 104 andbetween the return node 108 and a current limiter circuit 105. An energystorage component C1 is coupled between the current limiter circuit 105and the return node. In one embodiment, the energy storage component C1comprises a capacitor C1 that is sized to charge from rectified AC powerto a level sufficient to allow for power to be supplied to the load 110for a prescribed period of time. In one embodiment, the capacitance ofthe energy storage component C1 ranges from approximately 0.1 to 0.5farads; however, the current limiter 105 is configured to allow for anysize energy storage capacitor C1. Consequently, depending uponapplication, the energy storage component C1 can be sized to supportlarge power surges for finite periods of time. Exemplary applicationsthat require relatively large surges of power include, but are notlimited to, radios during transmission, microprocessors that wake upfrom low power mode to active mode, flashing of LED's, etc. The powerrequirements for these applications often exceed the allowable powerthat can be drawn from the desired input power source, the AC hot lineand earth ground.

Operationally, during every half cycle of the AC hot line HOT the energystorage component C1 is charged, typically not reaching its full voltagepotential due to the limited amount of current that is charging it;however, over several cycles charge will reach its full potential and,therefore, maximize stored energy. It is noted that the amount oftime/cycles required to reach full potential is a function of the sizeof the energy storage component. The current limiter 105 limits theamount of charging current to the energy storage component C1 accordinga prescribed limit. In one embodiment, the prescribed limit is 3milliamperes. Another embodiment comprises a limit of 5 milliamperes.

A low voltage power supply 106 is coupled to the current limiter 105 andto the energy storage component C1. The low voltage power supply 106receives voltage from the energy storage component C1 and generates aregulated output voltage VOUT to the output voltage node 107, which cansupply power to the load 110 for a prescribed period of time. In oneembodiment, current limiter 105 is sized to provide a 3 milliampereground leakage current limit, and the energy storage component C1 issized to 0.47 farads and the low voltage power supply 106 is configuredto provide an output voltage between 3.0 and 3.3 volts to the load 110at 25 milliamperes for 1 millisecond, which is typical of that requiredfor transmission of wireless messages. Such a configuration would alsoallow for 47 seconds of providing VOUT at 6 milliamperes, which istypical of the current required to operate a wireless radio in receivemode. It is noted that the duty cycle for charging and power draw by theload is approximately 50 percent. This embodiment, and other embodimentsdisclosed herein are provided to more clearly teach aspects of thepresent invention as it may be tailored to a particular application;however, the present inventors note that because control of leakagecurrent does not depend upon the size of C1, C1 (and other componentsmay be configured to provide a wide variety of power supply voltages andburst currents.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a block diagram is presented depicting anotherembodiment of a ground leakage current power supply installation 200according to the present invention. Like the installation 100 of FIG. 1,the installation 200 of FIG. 2 includes an AC power source that has ahot line and a neutral line. The hot line is coupled to a hot node 202within a ground leakage current power supply 201 according to thepresent invention. The ground leakage current power supply 201 also hasa chassis ground node 204 that is coupled to earth ground, an outputvoltage node 207 supplying an output voltage VOUT to a load 210, and areturn node 208 that provides a ground return RTN to the load 210. Inone embodiment, the nodes 202, 204, 207-2108 may comprise conventionalwiring terminals within a wall- or surface-mounted switch.

The power supply 201 may also include a rectifier circuit 203 that iscoupled between the hot node 202 and the chassis ground node 204 andbetween the return node 208 and resistor R2. Resistor R2 is coupled toresistor R5 and to the collector of NPN transistor Q1. The emitter of Q1is coupled to resistor R3 and to the base of NPN transistor Q2. ResistorR3 is coupled to the output voltage node 207 and to energy storagecomponent C1, and C1 is coupled to the return node 208. Resistor R5 iscoupled to resistor R4, the collector Q2 and the emitter of PNPtransistor Q3. Resistor R4 is coupled to the base of Q1 and the emitterof Q3. The emitter of Q2 is coupled to the output voltage node 207. Thecollector of Q3 is coupled to the return node 208.

Resistor R6 is coupled to the output voltage node 207, resistor R7 andthe negative input of operational amplifier U1. R7 is coupled to thereturn node. The positive input of U1 is coupled to a reference voltageVR. The output of U1 is coupled to resistor R9 and R9 is coupled to thebase of Q3.

Components R2-R5, Q1, and Q2 are configured to provide a prescribedground leakage current limit, which is routed from the return node 208through the rectifier 203 to the earth ground node 204. ComponentsR6-R7, R9, and U1, along with the value of VR are configured to providea regulated low voltage to the load 210 via the output voltage node 207.

In one embodiment, the energy storage component C1 comprises a capacitorC1 that is sized to charge from rectified AC power to a level sufficientto allow for power to be supplied to the load 210 for a prescribedperiod of time. In one embodiment, the capacitance of the energy storagecomponent C1 ranges from approximately 0.1 to 0.5 farads; however,components R2-R5, Q1 and Q2 may be configured to allow for any sizeenergy storage capacitor C1. Consequently, depending upon application,the energy storage component C1 can be sized to support large powersurges for finite periods of time, as is discussed above with referenceto FIG. 1.

Operationally, during every half cycle of the AC hot line HOT the energystorage component C1 is charged, typically not reaching its full voltagepotential due to the limited amount of current that is charging it;however, over several cycles charge will reach its full potential and,therefore, maximize stored energy. It is noted that the amount oftime/cycles required to reach full potential is a function of the sizeof the energy storage component. Components R2-R5, Q1, and Q2 limit theamount of charging current to the energy storage component C1 accordinga prescribed limit. In one embodiment, the prescribed limit is 3milliamperes. Another embodiment comprises a limit of 5 milliamperes.

Voltage regulation is achieved using a hysteretic converter comprisingR6, R7, R9, Q3, and U1. A voltage divider comprising R6 and R7 alongwith VREF, sets the desired output voltage, VOUT. U1 may comprise avoltage comparator U1 having a negative (“−”) input that comprises apercentage value of VOUT, as determined by the values of R6 and R7. VREFcomprises a reference voltage that is coupled to the positive (“+”)input to U1. Accordingly, when the voltage on the negative inputincreases above VREF the output of the comparator U1 will be pulled toRTN, turning on Q3 through R9. As a result, Q3 will divert the basecurrent of Q1 thus turning Q1 off, which will halt charging of C1.

When the voltage on the negative input of U1 decreases below VREF, theoutput of the comparator, U1, will float. This will turn off Q3, and theresulting current to the base of Q1 will cause Q1 to turn on andcommence charging cap C1.

Now referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram is presented of a multimodewireless switch 300 according to the present invention. The switch 300may be disposed as a wall- or surface-mounted switch. The switch 300includes a switch controller 301 that is coupled to a mechanicalactuator 302 via a STATE POWER bus and a STATE bus. The switchcontroller 301 is also coupled to a wireless transceiver 303 via a COMMbus. The switch controller 301 is further coupled to a line voltageswitch 304 via an ENABLE bus. The line voltage switch 304 receives aline voltage (e.g. AC hot) over bus LINE IN and provides switching ofthe line voltage to a load side for powering of associated devices (notshown) via bus LINE OUT. The line voltage switch 304 may compriseelectrical elements (e.g., semiconductor switches, etc.), mechanicalelements (e.g., levers, actuators, etc.), or electromechanical elements(e.g., relays, solenoids, etc.). In one embodiment, the associateddevices may comprise LED light fixtures that correspond to the multimodeswitch 300.

The wireless switch 300 may also comprise a ground leakage current powersupply 305 such as is described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.LINE IN (i.e., AC hot wire) and chassis ground are coupled to the powersupply 305. No AC neutral is present. In one embodiment, the powersupply 305 is configured to provide a supply voltage VOUT that may beemployed to supply power to the switch controller 301 and wirelesstransceiver 303. In one embodiment, the value of VOUT is 5 volts.Another embodiment contemplates a 3.3-volt value of VOUT.

In operation, the switch controller 301 is configured to transmit andreceive wireless messages over a wireless network (not shown) accordingto a wireless protocol (e.g., Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15.4,ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, BLUETOOTH®, etc.) chosen for intended application. Themessages may be transmitted/received between the switch 300 and agateway (not shown), between the switch 300 and a commissioning device,or between the switch 300 and associated wireless devices. In oneembodiment, control of the associated wireless devices is provided forby wireless messages generated by the gateway. In another embodiment,control of the associated wireless devices is provided for by wirelessmessages generated by the switch 300 operating under wireless operatingrules provided by the gateway. In yet another embodiment, control of theassociated wireless devices is provided for by wireless messagesgenerated by both the switch 300 and the gateway. Accordingly, in awireless operating mode, the switch controller 301 may assert STATEPOWER and then sense the state (e.g., open or closed, level of dimmingselected, light color, etc.) of the actuator 302 over bus STATE.According to chosen application, the switch controller 301 may eithertransmit messages to the gateway indicating state of the actuator 302 ormay transmit control messages to the associated wireless devices tocontrol their operation. In all modes of operation, when state of themechanical actuator 402 is changed (e.g., toggled, pressed, differentknob position, etc.), the switch controller 401 is configured totransmit messages over the network, via the wireless transceiver 303,indicating state change.

The mechanical actuator 302 may comprise any well-known elements of apresent-day light switch, dimmer, or selector knob, with additionalelements (if required) to couple to STATE POWER and STATE.

In a legacy line voltage switch mode, the switch controller 301 may beconfigured to direct the line voltage switch 304 to provide line voltageto the associated wireless devices over LINE OUT. When ENABLE is notasserted, the line voltage switch 304 does not provide line voltage tothe associated wireless devices. When ENABLE is asserted, the linevoltage switch 304 provides line voltage to the associated wirelessdevices. In this mode, the switch controller 301 may sense the state ofthe mechanical actuator 302 via STATE and may assert ENABLE when STATEindicates that the actuator 302 is in an “ON” state and may not assertENABLE when STATE indicates that the actuator 302 is in an “OFF” state.The multimode wireless switch 300 may also be configured to enter thelegacy line voltage switch mode as a default mode prior to beingcommissioned onto the wireless network, thus advantageously allowing forcontrol of its associated wireless devices via sensing state of theactuator 302.

When placed in either an autonomous mode or a commission and describemode, the switch controller 301 will assert ENABLE, thus powering on itsassociated devices to allow for discovery and commissioning. While inthese two modes, the multimode wireless switch 300 will not function asa legacy line voltage switch and will only switch line voltage to theassociated devices when directed to do so by commissioning devices. Inautonomous mode, the switch 300 is directed to switch line voltage viawireless message. In commission and describe mode, the switch 300 isdirected via wireless message to enable legacy line voltage switchingresponsive to actuation of the mechanical actuator 302.

The switch controller 301 may be further configured to broadcastidentifying information (e.g., unique network ID, device function,switch type, etc.) for capture by the commissioning device (or gateway),or may be configured to begin broadcasting the identifying informationresponsive to broadcasted commissioning messages received from thecommissioning device (or gateway).

Upon receipt of a message directing that the switch 300 performautonomous harvesting of its associated wireless devices, the controller301 may be configured to de-assert ENABLE for a prescribed time period,and then assert ENABLE, thus removing line voltage from the associatedwireless devices for the prescribed time period, whereby the associatedwireless devices transmit wireless messages to the commissioning device(or gateway) indicating they have been power cycled, thus providing forcreation of a functional device group comprising the switch 300 andassociated wireless devices. Following this, the switch 300 may be alsoconfigured to receive identifying information and functional groupdesignation for all of the associated wireless devices. Thereafter, thecontroller 301 may de-assert ENABLE and may subsequently control one ormore of the associated wireless devices via wireless messages using theidentifying information corresponding to the one or more of theassociated wireless devices.

Upon receipt of a message directing that the switch 300 performcommission and describe harvesting of its associated wireless devices,the controller 301 may be configured to de-assert ENABLE and thenmonitor STATE to detect when a technician toggles the mechanicalactuator 302. The controller 301 may then assert/de-assert ENABLEaccording to the state of the actuator 302 until the switch 300 receiveswireless messages from the commissioning device (or gateway) providingidentifying information and functional group designation for all theassociated wireless devices. Thereafter, the controller 301 mayde-assert ENABLE and may subsequently control one or more of theassociated wireless devices via wireless messages using the identifyinginformation corresponding to the one or more of the associated wirelessdevices.

The multimode wireless switch 300 according to the present invention isconfigured to perform the functions and operations as discussed above.The multimode wireless switch 300 may comprise logic, circuits, devices,or microcode (i.e., micro instructions or native instructions), or acombination of logic, circuits, devices, or microcode, or equivalentelements that are employed to execute the functions and operationsaccording to the present invention as noted. The elements employed toaccomplish these operations and functions within the multimode wirelessswitch 300 may be shared with other circuits, microcode, etc., that areemployed to perform other functions and/or operations within multimodewireless switch 300. According to the scope of the present application,microcode is a term employed to refer to a plurality of microinstructions. A micro instruction (also referred to as a nativeinstruction) is an instruction at the level that a unit executes. Forexample, micro instructions are directly executed by a reducedinstruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor. For a complexinstruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, complex instructions aretranslated by elements within the CISC microprocessor into associatedmicro instructions, and the associated micro instructions are directlyexecuted by a unit or units within the CISC microprocessor.

Portions of the present invention and corresponding detailed descriptionare presented in terms of software, or algorithms and symbolicrepresentations of operations on data bits within a computer memory.These descriptions and representations are the ones by which those ofordinary skill in the art effectively convey the substance of their workto others of ordinary skill in the art. An algorithm, as the term isused here, and as it is used generally, is conceived to be aself-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The stepsare those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities.Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form ofoptical, electrical, or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, or as is apparent from the discussion,terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer program product, a computer system, amicroprocessor, a central processing unit, or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical, electronic quantities within the computer system's registersand memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or display devices. The devicesmay comprise one or more CPUs that are coupled to a computer-readablestorage medium. Computer program instructions for these devices may beembodied in the computer-readable storage medium. When the instructionsare executed by the one or more CPUs, they cause the devices to performthe above-noted functions, in addition to other functions.

Note also that the software implemented aspects of the invention aretypically encoded on some form of program storage medium or implementedover some type of transmission medium. The program storage medium may beelectronic (e.g., read only memory, flash read only memory, electricallyprogrammable read only memory), random access memory magnetic (e.g., afloppy disk or a hard drive) or optical (e.g., a compact disk read onlymemory, or “CD ROM”), and may be read only or random access. Similarly,the transmission medium may be metal traces, twisted wire pairs, coaxialcable, optical fiber, or some other suitable transmission medium knownto the art. The invention is not limited by these aspects of any givenimplementation.

The particular disclosed above are illustrative only, and those skilledin the art will appreciate that they can readily use the disclosedconception and specific embodiments as a basis for designing ormodifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of thepresent invention, and that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the scope of theinvention as set forth by the appended claims. For example,components/elements of the systems and/or apparatuses may be integratedor separated. In addition, the operation of the systems and apparatusesdisclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other componentsand the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps.Additionally, unless otherwise specified steps may be performed in anysuitable order.

Although specific advantages have been enumerated above, variousembodiments may include some, none, or all of the enumerated advantages.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multimode switch, comprising: a wirelesstransceiver, configured to transmit and receive messages over a wirelessnetwork; a line voltage switch, coupled to a line voltage and to one ormore associated devices; a switch controller, responsive to firstmessages received over said wireless network, configured to direct saidline voltage switch to provide said line voltage to, and subsequentlyremove line voltage from, said one or more associated devices, andconfigured to receive first identifying information and functional groupdesignation for said one or more associated devices in second messagesover said wireless network, and configured to thereafter control saidone or more associated devices according to said identifying informationand functional group designation via transmission of third messages oversaid wireless network; and a ground leakage power supply, coupled to anAC hot line and to an earth ground, configured to generate a regulatedvoltage to power said wireless transceiver and said switch controllerwithout requiring connection to an AC neutral line, while limitingground leakage current to said earth ground to a prescribed leakagevalue.
 2. The multimode switch as recited in claim 1, wherein saidswitch controller directs said line voltage switch to provide said linevoltage to, and subsequently remove line voltage from, said one or moreassociated devices to allow for discovery and commissioning of said oneor more associated devices.
 3. The multimode switch as recited in claim1, wherein said switch controller is configured to transmit secondidentifying information for capture by a commissioning device.
 4. Themultimode switch as recited in claim 1, wherein said one or moreassociated devices comprise one or more wireless lighting fixtures. 5.The multimode switch as recited in claim 1, wherein said regulatedvoltage comprises a value of approximately 3.3 volts DC.
 6. Themultimode switch as recited in claim 5, wherein said ground leakagepower supply is configured to supply a 25 milliampere current to saidwireless transceiver and said switch controller for at least 1millisecond.
 7. The ground leakage current power supply as recited inclaim 5, wherein said ground leakage power supply is configured tosupply a 6 milliampere current to said wireless transceiver and saidswitch controller for at least 47 seconds.
 8. A multimode switch,comprising: an actuator, configured to indicate a state responsive to achange in actuation; a wireless transceiver, configured to transmit andreceive messages over a wireless network; a line voltage switch, coupledto a line voltage and to one or more associated devices; a switchcontroller, responsive to first messages received over said wirelessnetwork, configured to direct said line voltage switch to provide saidline voltage to, and subsequently remove line voltage from, said one ormore associated devices, and configured to receive first identifyinginformation and functional group designation for said one or moreassociated devices in second messages over said wireless network, andconfigured to thereafter control said one or more associated devicesaccording to said identifying information and functional groupdesignation via transmission of third messages over said wirelessnetwork; and a ground leakage power supply, coupled to an AC hot lineand to an earth ground, configured to generate a regulated voltage topower said wireless transceiver and said switch controller withoutrequiring connection to an AC neutral line, while limiting groundleakage current to said earth ground to a prescribed leakage value. 9.The multimode switch as recited in claim 8, wherein said switchcontroller directs said line voltage switch to provide said line voltageto, and subsequently remove line voltage from, said one or moreassociated devices responsive to first messages received over saidwireless network to allow for discovery and commissioning of said one ormore wireless devices.
 10. The multimode switch as recited in claim 8,wherein said switch controller directs said line voltage switch toprovide said line voltage to, and subsequently remove line voltage from,said one or more associated devices responsive to said change inactuation, thereby allowing for discovery and commissioning of said oneor more wireless devices.
 11. The multimode switch as recited in claim8, wherein said one or more associated devices comprise one or morewireless lighting fixtures.
 12. The multimode switch as recited in claim8, wherein said regulated voltage comprises a value of approximately 3.3volts DC.
 13. The multimode switch as recited in claim 12, wherein saidground leakage power supply is configured to supply a 25 milliamperecurrent to said wireless transceiver and said switch controller for atleast 1 millisecond.
 14. The ground leakage current power supply asrecited in claim 12, wherein said ground leakage power supply isconfigured to supply a 6 milliampere current to said wirelesstransceiver and said switch controller for at least 47 seconds.
 15. Amultimode switch method, comprising: via a wireless transceiver,transmitting and receiving messages over a wireless network; coupling aline voltage switch to a line voltage and to one or more associateddevices; via a switch controller, responsive to first messages receivedover the wireless network, directing the line voltage switch to providethe line voltage to, and subsequently remove line voltage from, the oneor more associated devices; receiving first identifying information andfunctional group designation for the one or more associated devices insecond messages over the wireless network; and thereafter controllingthe one or more associated devices according to the identifyinginformation and functional group designation via transmission of thirdmessages over the wireless network; and coupling a ground leakage powersupply to an AC hot line and to an earth ground, and generating aregulated voltage to power the wireless transceiver and the switchcontroller without requiring connection to an AC neutral line, whilelimiting ground leakage current to the earth ground to a prescribedleakage value.
 16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the switchcontroller directs the line voltage switch to provide the line voltageto, and subsequently remove line voltage from, the one or moreassociated devices to allow for discovery and commissioning of the oneor more associated devices.
 17. The method as recited in claim 15,wherein the switch controller is configured to transmit secondidentifying information for capture by a commissioning device.
 18. Themethod as recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more wireless devicescomprise one or more wireless lighting fixtures.
 19. The method asrecited in claim 15, wherein said regulated voltage comprises a value ofapproximately 3.3 volts DC.
 20. The method as recited in claim 19,wherein said ground leakage power supply is configured to supply a 25milliampere current to said wireless transceiver and said switchcontroller for at least 1 millisecond.